Since a newly restored Steinway grand piano has graced our music salon since last summer, it was a great concern of ours to show the instrument off to its best advantage. A good occasion for this was the piano competition "Die jungen musikalischen Löwen", planned together with the Lions Club Leipzig Saxonia and Edition Peters. The newly established format was aimed at musical youth; pupils aged between 10 and 17 could register until November 2020. Three pieces were to be presented: one from the Viennese Classical period, a work of free choice and – particularly important to us – a composition by Edvard Grieg.
Under normal circumstances, the first edition of the competition would have taken place on 25 January 2021. But due to the prevailing coronavirus restrictions, we had to rethink and hold the event digitally. Participants were now to submit their contributions as video recordings, and had until the end of the month to do so. A few even found their way to Talstrasse and made their recordings on site. A total of 18 submissions reached our inbox by 31 January, mainly from pupils in the immediate Leipzig area, but also one voice from far-off Vienna.
The jury was made up of four members of Leipzig's musical life. Alongside the vice-president of our association and piano professor at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy", Dietmar Nawroth, it included University Music Director David Timm, Robert Clemen of MDR Klassik, and the pianist and teacher Oriol Plans-Casal. In a digital meeting lasting several hours, they discussed the contributions and jointly arrived at the following awards:
Age group 10 to 13
1st prize: Babett Lehnert (Leipzig)
2nd prize: Eva Wang (Vienna) and Wilhelmine Freytag (Borsdorf)
Age group 14 to 17
1st prize: Linus Reul (Bad Soden)
2nd prize: Erik Johann Schumacher (Leipzig)
Prize of the Lions Club Leipzig Saxonia
Age group 10 to 13
Young Musical Lion (female): Nina Patricia Purtov (Leipzig)
Young Musical Lion (male): Jonas Rüde (Leipzig)
Age group 14 to 17
Georgij Martyushev (Leipzig) and Anouk Falke (Leipzig)
Prize of the Baker Tilly Foundation
Age group 10 to 13: Artjom Ulrich Müller (Leipzig)
Age group 14 to 17: Nomiko Taima Linkies (Leipzig)
Prize of Noticon GmbH
Age group 10 to 13: Tanja Müller (Freiberg)
Age group 14 to 17: Julia Trensch (Leipzig)
We were delighted by the great interest in the first edition of the International Piano Competition "Die jungen musikalischen Löwen", and it strengthens us in our ambition to continue the project in the coming years. With it, we also want to help spread Grieg's piano works among the next generation of pianists. Numerous responses confirmed that we had already achieved this aim among the participants of the first competition. The playing alone showed with how much joy and enthusiasm the young performers engaged with Grieg's many-sided work. In this spirit, our thanks go especially to that first group of participants, who – we hope – have laid the foundation for a long-lasting tradition. Great thanks are also due to all the jury members and organisers. Special mention should be made of the president of the Lions Club Leipzig Saxonia, Mario Linkies, whose energetic efforts contributed significantly to the success of the competition.
All prizewinners will have the opportunity to present themselves to the public at a special concert on 5 June 2021. Further information will follow later on our website.